Airship



June 26, 1-923. 1,459,742.-

, J. NEFF, SR

AIRSHIP Filed Oct. 27, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 A TTURNEYS Patented June 26, 1923.

1 l UNiTEo STATES JOHN NEFF, SR., OF WEST HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

AIRsHIr.

Application filed October27, 1921. Serial No. 510,778. i

To all whom it concern:

Be it known that 1. JOHN Nnrr, Sr, a citizen of the United States,a11d resident of est Hoboken in the county of Hudson along the line 3-3 of Fig. l, a

Fig. e is a fragmentary detailed view on Y and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airships, ofwhichthe following is a specification. I i

My present invention relatesto aero vehicles and particularly heavier-than-air variety.

It is an object of the invention to provide apparatus of the above type which shall be simple in construction and easy to control.

It is another object to provide apracti cal and dependable machine of the above type which shall have a substantial climbingpower and which shall be 'self-sustaining at low. flying speed.

According to one preferred feature of the invention, I provide wings which are reciprocated or flapped through a substantial range for effectiveness in climbing, ordinary propellers serving preferably for the propulsion when the machine isaloft.

According to another preferred feature the flapping wings have valves and mechanical means is provided for automatically opening said valves near the commencement of the upwardstroke and for closingsaid valves near the commencement of the down ward stroke, so that the air shall offer small' resistance to the upward movement of the wings' and substantial resistance to the downward movement thereof, thereby effecting the lift. In the preferred embodiment two sets of wings of equal lifting effective ness operate in opposition,so that at each instant, one or the other of the sets beats down upon the air therebelow.

According to another preferred feature, the wings are reclprocated "by power cylin ders, one associated with each wing and directly connected thereto. The power cylinders are preferably operated byair from a compressor which is driven by an engine.

Other objects and featureswill appear in the detailed description which follows.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possible embodiments of the several features of this invention,

Fig. 1 is a fragmentaryside view of a 1JI'Q".

to air ships of the a larger scale of a wing and the valve con trol means therefor, showing the valves closed,

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig'i-i showing the valves in openposition,

ig.'6 is a fragmentary detailed View on. a larger scale taken along the line 6-6 of .Fig. I, and; v I

Fig. 7 1s a diagrammatic view illustrating the distribution of the fluid for effecting the reciprocation of the wings.

Theinvention is an improvement upon my prior Patents No. 1,298,082 of March 25,

1919 and No. 1,370,902 of March 8th, 1921.

Referring now to the drawings I have shown an airship including a fuselage 1 of generally conventional stream line shape carrying a plurality of nacelles 2, also of stream-line form; each 'nacelle carrying a separate propeller?) driven by an engine 4 enclosed therein. Four nacelles are shown in the present embodiment, two at each side of the fuselage. and each nacelle is secured to the fuselage by corresponding rigging 5.

In the preferred embodiment. Ijemploy a pair of central wings 6 and 6* extending symmetrically from opposite sides of the fuselage and preferably thereabove, a pair of forward wings 7 and 7 in front of the central wings and a pair of rearward wings 8 and 8 to the rear thereof. The wings are preferably of uniform width but the combined areas of the forward and rear central wings are of a length equal to the combined length and, therefore, equal'to the wings. Preferably the two central wings I are formed in one piece continuous with a central element or plate 9. and are identified as an entirety by numeral 6, and theforward and rear pair of wings are similarly formed and each identified in itsentirety by numerals 7 and 8 respectively. The general slope of the wings is downwardly from. the front toward the rear to contribute to the lift in the well understood manner.

In the preferred.embodiment, meansis provided for reciprocating or flapping the Wings by vertical up and down translating movement, the forward and rear wings being always in phase with each other for flappingin unison and the middle wing be,- ing in opposition to the forward and rear wings, that is, being at the upper end of the stroke when the. other wings are at the lower end of the stroke and vice versa.

I preferably) provide three vertical power cylinders A, C, at each side of the fuselage for reciprocating the wings through a substantial length of stroke. Each cylinder is preferably directly below the corresponding wing and directly, connected thereto.

.The' six power cylinders are preferably all within the contour of the fuselage and thus the stream-line shape of the exterior is preserved. 1

Each of the power elements comprises a cylinder 10 within which reciprocates a double-acting piston having a pair of piston heads 11 and a cross-pin 12 fitting in a hub 18 in the piston stem 14, and projecting outwardly at its ends beyond the cylinder throughslots 15 and '16 therein. The ends of the cross-pin 12 are joined by connecting bars 17 and 18 directly and rigidly to the wing thereabove, lock nuts 19 maintaining the connecting bars locked to the ends of the cross-pin. It will thus be understood that each wing'will reciprocate up and down as a unit with the corresponding piston therebelow. 7 v

In the preferred embodiment, each wing has a pluralityof valves 20 for opening or closing ports 21 therein, the valves being preferably automatically opened near the beginning of'the upward stroke of the wing to allow the air thereabove to pass through without substantial resistance and being preferably closed at the beginning of the downward stroke to offer substantial resistance in the downward flapping movement, thereby bringing about a substantial lift.

Preferably the opening and closing of the valves is effected by positive action of appropriate mechanism, so that the opening and closing movement of the valves shall take place promptly near the ends of the wing stroke. In the preferred embodiment,

each wing has-a central longitudinal spar 22 at one side of which are provided a series of ports 21 circular in form distributed at close intervals over the entire length of the wing, and a similar series of ports 21 is provided to the other side of the rib. The circular valves 20 for closing and opening the ports to one side of the rib have a common pivotal axis 23 extending diametri cally of the line of valves and a similar pivoted axis 23 is provided for the valves 20 at the other side of the rib. Each of the valves is secured to its pivot axis 23 by means of cross-pin 24. The pivot axes have bearings in the ribs 25 of the wings and the ends of the, pivot axes are preferably joined to the endsof the connecting bars 17 and 18. Since each piston is connected to the corresponding wing by two connecting bars, and since two pistons corresponding-to each of the integral wing pairs or units, each of said units is firmly sustained at four points.

For effecting the opening and closing movement of tie valves, linkage is preferably provided for appropriately rotating the pivot axes. As the'linkage for controlling both of the valve pivot axes of each wing, is identical, only one will'be described in de tail. This linkage comprises a link 26 rigidly secureu near the end of the pivot axis 23 and a bell crank lever 27 having a central pivot 28 secured to the connecting rod 1?. tends directly above the cylinder 10. Arm 30 has an elongated slot 31 straddling a pin 32 in link 26. A torsion spring 38 encircles the central pivot 28 and is maintained in place by nut 34 and'thus presses the bell crank lever against the connecting rod 17 with sufficient force to prevent accidental rotation of the pivot rxes. Stop rods and 86 are securedto the upper end'of the cylinder l0 and have lugs 37 near the upper ends thereof.

The arm '29 of the bell crank lever ex-.

in the construction described, it will be seen that during the rising movement of the piston 11, the valves are open (see Fig. 5) and maintained by the pressure 'of spring against undesired closure. As the piston riseswith the rods 17 and 18 and the wing and linkage carried thereby, the end of the bell crank lever arm 29 will come into contact with the'corresponding lug 3'7, andin the continued upward movement, the bell crank lever will be rotated in clockwise direction about its pivot 28, and through the link 26 will rotate the vahrc pivot axis 23 in counterclockwise direction to urge the set of valves 20 to the closed position shown in Fig. 1-. The stop 37 at the right enacting similarly with the end of the other bell crank lever will concurrently urge the other group of valves 20 of the same wing toclosed position. During the downward stroke, the pressure of springs 33 maintains the valves closed until near the end of the down strol-;e, the bell crank lever arms 29 out substantially the entire down stroke and open throughout substantially the entire up stroke. It will be understood that the valve constructions of the central, forward and rearward wings are all preferably identical to that shown in Figs 4, 5 and 6. i

F or actuating the six power cylinders A,

B, C a source of compressed air is preferably provided, comprising a compressor 39 of any appropriate type driven by an engine 40, pressure tanks 41 being interposed if distributer is interposed between the com pressor and the cylinders. This distributor is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 7, the specific mechanical details thereof not being material to the present application. I have;

shown diagrammatically at A and C,-one each, of the pair of cylinders controlling the forward and rearward pair of'wings respectively, and at B, one of the cylinders con trolling the central pair of wings. The compressor is connected through a valve "42 to the upper ends of all of the cylinders and 7 through a valve 4:3 to the lower ends of all of the cylinders. The pairs of cylinders A, B and C at opposite sides of thefuselage are connected to the pipe by manifolds 60 at the upper ends and at the lower ends.

For operation, the valves 42and -13 are opened and maintained open and the delivery of pressure therefrom to the upper or lower ends respectively of the cylinders is controlled by two sets of rotary valves respectively at the upper and lower ends of the cylinders. In the diagrammatic view shown.

rotary valves 44 and 45 at the lower ends of cylinders A. and C are open and the valves corresponding to the upper ends thereof closed, while the lower valve 4-6 correspond ing to cylinders B is closed, and the upper valve 47 thereof open. As a consequence, when the valves are in the position shown, compressed. air will be deliveredfrom the lower valve 43 pastthe rotary valves 45k and L3 to the lower endsofthe cylinders A and C to cause the same to move upwardly raising the forward and rearward wings and concurrently therewith .air will be passed through valve 42 past upper rotary valve 47 into cylinders B to cause the pistons therein to travel downwardly to lower the central wings 6. At the endof the up stroke of cylinder A, the latter operates through any appropriate mechanism, as fOI lDSllZllltl the conventional slide valve diar ramrnati ally shown at 4:8 and through linkage &9 to

rotatethe lower valves at and 45 to closed position and thecorresponding upper valves to open position and'simultaneously to lo tate valve l7 to closed position and valve 46 to op'enposition. Thus, at the end of the stroke, the compressed air will enter the upper ends of the cylinders A and C and the lower endsof the cylinders B to cause a reversal of the stroke of the corresponding wings, central wings 6 now moving up wardly andforward and rearward wings T and 8 downwardly. The rate of reciprocation of the wingswill, of course be rapid and will depend upon the pressure of air from the compressor and any appropriate regulating means (not shown) may be provided for regulation.

l Ving 5-) is provided in advance of, and wing 51 to the rear of, the reciprocating wings for control of the angle of rise and descent of the machine.

In order to start the airship, the engine 40 is set intooperation, driving the com pressor 39 and through the distributing mechanism shownin Fig. 7, the air will be delivered therefrom in the manner heretofore described, to the power cylinders A, B and C to fiap the wings upand down throughout the full stroke thereof at a substantial rate of speed, wings 6 in opposition to wings 7 and 8; In the manner heretofore described, the valves 20 of each wing are closed near the end of the downward stroke and are opened near the end of the upward stroke, remaining open throughout the upward stroke and closed throughout the downward stroke. As a consequence during its downward stroke, the central wing 6 will beat downwardly and exert a substantial pressure upon the aiu therebelow and a corresponding lift upon the airship, while the forward and rearward wings in their upward stroke by reason of their open valves will offer little resistance to the upward movement. After the end of the downward stroke of wings 6, the forward and rearward wings 7 and 8 will fla downwardly, the combined effect thereof being equal in its downward thrust to the prior downward thrust of the central wing. Thus, at every instant one of the sets of wings is on its downward stroke and the other set of wings with its valves open is on its upward stroke and, therefore, while the wings are flapping or reciprocating there is a continual substan tial downward thrust upon the air, tending to lift the machine vertically. It will, therefore, be apparent that by the use of my re ciprocating wings, the machine can be made to rise directly from the ground without the need for previously acquiring high speed chine is rising, or if desired, before it leaves the ground, any or all of the propellers 13 may beset into operatlon by starting the corresponding engine or engines. After the machine has risen to the desired elevation, the operation of engine a0 and compressor 39 may be stopped, if desired. and the propellers will provide the driving force, the

wings 6, Y and 8 being stationary with respect to the fuselage. T .e machine will now operate substantially in themanner of an ordinary airplane. It is preferred, however, even when the machine has reached the desired altitude, to maintain the compressor in action to assist in keeping the machine aloft. Thus, the lift of the machine is se-' cured independently of its speed. The propellers may, therefore, be rotated at any desired speed low or high, and the machine can be made to travel at speeds far lower than any heretofore attained with ordinary forms of airplanes.

By my invention the need for large landing fields for alighting is entirely dispensed with. In alighting, when the machine is approximately over the point at which it is to land, the compressor is operated at relatively low pressure, while the propulsion engines are gradually throttled down. The

machine will then descend slowly by gravity,

reciprocating wings 6, 7, 8, exerting a raising force which counteracts the effect of gravity, to materially retard the descent of the machine. By the use of the steering gear, and of the throttled propulsion engines to compensate for drift, it is possible to alight accurately substantially without impact or speed upon a small area.

It will, of course, be understood that the wings may be formed of shapes different.v

from the preferred form described, and that more than three pans of wings may be pro:

,vided, but for stability, the construction should preferably be symmetrical, that is, the thrust upon the air due to the downward stroke of each of the two sets of wings should be balanced with respect to the center of gravity of the machine, so as to provide direct lift, and to avoid any unbalanced forces that might tend to rotate the fuselage about a transverse axis.

It will be noted that the wings (5,6", 7, 7 8, 8", are floatingly carried on the airship by the corresponding pistons in the power cylinders, and the air in said cylinders acts to cushion any strains which may result from rapid pressure changes in the surrounding air, as, for instance, when the airship enters a pocket or whirl.

By the direct connection of the pistons withthe wings, it will be noted that the stroke of the wings is not only through a relatively wide range, but the possibility of breakdown, and the frictional resistance arising in the case of complex linkage are substantially eliminated.

It will be understood that all of the wings downwardly-at their forward edges, so that the airship will be given a forward impulse by the reciprocation of the wings alone, substantially in the manner that birds are enabled to fly in a forward direction by the flapping of their wings.

It will thus be seen that there is herein described apparatus in which the several features of this invention are embodied, and which apparatus in its action attains the various objects of the invention and is well suited to meet the requirements of practical use. 7

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent of the United States is 1. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a

pair of relatively flat reciprocating wings, sets of valves in said wings each set mounted on a common pivot, and means for retating said pivots to open said valves at one part of the reciprocatory movement of the wings and to close said valves at another part of said movement.

2. The combination set forth in claim 1 in which means is provided to resist opening or closing of the valves between the ends of the wing strokes.

. 8. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a pair of wings, sets of valves therein, each set having a common pivotal axis, linkage connected to said pivotal axis, and means coacting with said linkage to rotate said axis for opening said valves near the begin ning of the upward stroke and. for closing said valves near the beginning of the downward stroke.

l. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a group of wings, each having a set of aligned valves extending substantially the length of the wing, each set having a common pivotal axis extending substantially the full length of the wing, separate linkage connected to each said pivotal axis, means for reciprocating said wings, and stop means coacting with said linkage at the ends of the strokes to alternately open and close the valves, and means to maintain the valves against opening and closing in the movement between said stop means. i

5. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a group of wings, each having a central loir gitudinal rib, each wing having a plurality of valves at opposite sides of the corresponding rib, the set of valves at each side of the rib having a common pivotal axis, and means for concurrently rotating both of the pivotal axes of each wing for opening and closing movement of the valves.

6. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a

. flat wing, having a rib extending longitudinally thereof, a succession of valves having a common pivotal axis, parallel to said rib and at one side thereof for opening and closing ports in said wing, a similar succession of valves at the other side of said rib, a power elementfor reciprocating saidwing, said power element including a cylinder, a piston movable therein, connecting rods joining said piston to said wing and sustaining the latter, linkage connected to said pivotal axis and movable with said wing, stops in the path of said linkage to closethe valves substantially at the end of the upward stroke and to open said valves substantially at the end of the downward stroke, and means to maintain said valve in open posi-' tion during the upward stroke and in closed position during the downward stroke.

7. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a pair of central wings, a pair of front wings and a pair of rear wings, each pair extending from opposite sides of the longitudinal axis of the machine, the joint area of said front and rear wings being substantially equal to that of said central wings, means for reciprocating said front and rear wings in phase with each other, and said central wings in opposition with said front and rear wings, valves for ports in all of said wings, and means for maintaining the valves of each wing closed during the downward stroke thereof and open during the upward stroke thereof.

8. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a fuselage, a central pair of substantially flat Wings, a forward pair of substantially fiat wings, and a rearward pair of substantially flat wings, six power cylinders connected to said fuselage, three at each side thereof and each including a piston connected to the corresponding wing, a single source of fluid for actuating all of said cylinders, and distributing means for causing the cylinders corresponding to the central wing to operate in opposition to the cylinders of the forward and rearward wings.

9. The combination set forth in claim 8 in which the cylinders are enclosed within the fuselage to preserve the stream-line conformation of the latter.

10. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a central wing element, a forward wing element and a rearward wing element, cylinder means directly connected, one to each of said wing elements for reciprocating the samepan air compressor for supplying energy to operate said cylinder means, and

a distributer interposed between said compressor and said cylinder means to operate the central cylinder means 111 opposition to the remaining cylinder means.

11. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a pair of central wings, a pair of forward wings, a pair of rearward wings, the pair of central wings having an area equal to the combined area of the forwardand rearwardlwings, six double-acting cylinders, a piston in each of said cylinders, connecting rods joining said pistons directly one to each of the wings, an air compressor, a driving engine therefor, and a distributer for passing the air from the compressor to said cylinders to effect reciprocation of .said central wings in opposition to said forward and rearward wings, valves in each of said wings, and means for maintaining the valves closed during the downward stroke and open during the upward stroke of each wing.

12. The combination set forth in claim 11 in which stop means are provided adjacent each of the cylinders in the path of linkage connected to said valves for effecting the closing and opening movement of the valves.

pivoted axes for closing and opening ports in said wings, linkage connected to said axes, and stop means in thepath of movement of sald linkage for effecting opening of said valves substantially at one end of thestroke and closing movement of said valves substantially at the other end of the stroke.

14. In an aero vehicle, in combination, a fuselage, a pair of central wings, a-pair of forward wings and a pair of rearward wings, each pair extending outwardly from opposite sides of the fuselage, the central wing having an effective area substantially equal to the combined areas ofthe forward and rearward wings, a plurality of vertical cylinders, one directly below each said wing, said cylinders and wings being constructed, arranged and associated with each other substantially as set forth in claim 13.

Signed at New York in the county 01' New York and State of New York this 26th day of October A. D. 1921.

JOHN nnrr, SR. 

